Gretna barber hosts event to combat teen violence

Gretna barber shop owner Michael Coleman lost three of his customers to street violence in February. “After I finished cutting their hair, they left out of the shop and were killed, the same day,” he said.

Coleman said he knew he had to do something to help prevent further tragedies. So, he decided to start a once-a-month gathering for adolescent males in the community, to teach them the importance of nonviolence and self-respect.

During one of the most recent events, two motivational speakers stopped by to offer encouragement. One of the speakers, Hakim Kashif, used his own story to show them the consequences of making wrong choices.

“I grew up in the Desire housing projects; I went to St. Augustine High School, and after that I attended Southern University of Baton Rouge,” he told attendees. “I got into some trouble while I was in college and got in the drug game.” Because of that, “I just came home from doing 20 years in the federal prison. I’ve been home now for about a year and a half.”

Kashif said he didn’t allow his time in prison prevent him from improving himself.

“When I went to prison, I reformed myself,” said Kashif, who also mentors students at L.B. Landry High School in Algiers. “I read over 1,000 books. I did everything in my will to change the way I think.”

Oliver Thomas, a former New Orleans city councilman, also shared his personal experiences.

“Two guys from my neighborhood picked me up in a stolen car when I was 13 years old and I thought I was going riding with them,” said Thomas, who recently served three years in federal prison. “They turned in the driveway of my school and said, ‘Get out of the car. I said ‘What are you talking about? I’m coming with ya’ll.’ They said, ‘No, you’re not. We’ve made bad decisions already and we’re going to make this one for you.’ ”

Guest speaker Oliver Thomas uses several audience members for a demonstration.

Thomas, who in 2007 stunned the city by admitting he’d accepted a bribe and abruptly resigned his at-large post, said occurrences like that are not as prevalent in today’s society.

“We don’t do that anymore, because we want everybody to be on the corner and we want everybody to be hustlers,” he said. “Well, if everybody is a hustler and they’re all going down, what does that leave us with?”

Kashif agreed, as he expressed the importance of displaying the proper image.

“The last thing I want to state to you all is, stop trying to look like you sell dope. If you work a 9-to-5, you don’t need rims on your car,” he said. “If the dope dealers are wearing certain kinds of jeans, don’t wear those types of jeans, because perception is everything. That’s reality, man. You are perceived not only by the way you talk, but also by the way you dress.”

He challenged the group to be wise in their appearances.

“Why would you want to have an image of a drug dealer?” he asked. “There are two roads in that lifestyle; one is prison and one is the graveyard. So, why would you make that kind of decision to look like somebody that could be killed or go to prison?”

Coleman said events such as these are important and he hopes other barber shops in the community will follow.

“I feel like the barber shop is the heart of the community and I believe if more barber shops would step up and do events like these, it would slow down the crime rate in the city,” he said. “That’s why I believe it’s important for us to step up and take our rightful place as men and give back.”

Attendee Michael Dunson said he was inspired by the speakers.

“I think it was very uplifting and it gave me a chance to re-evaluate myself and say you know what, I’m going to be a little smarter about the way I’m out here on the streets,” he said. “This was something I needed to hear, even though I felt this way. Now, I won’t return to some of the ways I used to think.”